(a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), no person may file more than two small claims actions in which the amount demanded exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), anywhere in the state in any calendar year.
§ 116.231.Filing of more than two small claims actions
Title 1. Organization and Jurisdiction · Chapter 5.5. Small Claims Court · Article 2. Small Claims Court · Last amended 1998 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 116.231 bars any person from filing more than two small claims actions demanding over $2,500 anywhere in California in a calendar year, requires a sworn declaration confirming compliance, and gives local public entities a narrower exception for claims that do not exceed $5,000.
Full Text of § 116.231
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), if the amount demanded in any small claims action exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), the party making the demand shall file a declaration under penalty of perjury attesting to the fact that not more than two small claims actions in which the amount of the demand exceeded two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) have been filed by that party in this state within the calendar year.
(c) The Legislature finds and declares that the pilot project conducted under the authority of Chapter 1196 of the Statutes of 1991 demonstrated the efficacy of the removal of the limitation on the number of actions public entities may file in the small claims courts on claims exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(d) The limitation on the number of filings exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) does not apply to filings where the claim does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) that are filed by a city, county, city and county, school district, county office of education, community college district, local district, or any other local public entity. If any small claims action is filed by a city, county, city and county, school district, county office of education, community college district, local district, or any other local public entity pursuant to this section, and the defendant informs the court either in advance of the hearing by written notice or at the time of the hearing, that he or she is represented in the action by legal counsel, the action shall be transferred out of the small claims division. A city, county, city and county, school district, county office of education, community college district, local district, or any other local public entity may not file a claim within the small claims division if the amount of the demand exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000).
Plain-English Summary
Section 116.231(a) caps how often any person can use small claims court for a larger-dollar claim: no more than two small claims actions demanding over $2,500 statewide in a calendar year. Subdivision (b) backs that cap with a paperwork requirement — a party demanding more than $2,500 must file a declaration under penalty of perjury confirming they have not exceeded the two-filing cap that year.
Subdivision (d) gives local public entities — a city, county, city and county, school district, county office of education, community college district, or other local public entity — an exception to the two-per-year cap, but only for claims that do not exceed $5,000. If a public entity’s claim under this exception draws a defendant who is represented by legal counsel, the case is transferred out of small claims court rather than heard there. The same subdivision separately bars a local public entity from filing any small claims claim at all, exception or not, once the amount demanded exceeds $5,000.
The result is a rule aimed at limiting repeat use of a court designed for occasional, individual disputes, while still leaving room for local government agencies to use small claims court routinely for the modest-dollar claims — unpaid fees or fines, for example — that they handle in volume.
Official Comment
The following official comments are published by the California Law Revision Commission (and, for a few older sections, its predecessor Code Commissioners) alongside the statute itself — not commentary from this site.
1998 Law Revision Commission Comment. Section 116.231 is amended to accommodate unification of the municipal and superior courts in a county. Cal. Const. art. VI, § 5(e).
Frequently Asked Questions
How many small claims cases over $2,500 can one person file in a year in California?
Section 116.231(a) limits any person to no more than two small claims actions demanding over $2,500, statewide, in a calendar year, and requires a declaration under subdivision (b) confirming compliance.
Do cities and counties face the same two-per-year small claims limit?
Not entirely. Section 116.231(d) exempts a local public entity from the two-per-year cap for claims that do not exceed $5,000, though a public entity cannot file any small claims claim exceeding $5,000 at all under this section.
What happens if a public entity sues someone who has a lawyer?
Section 116.231(d) requires the case to be transferred out of the small claims division if the defendant informs the court, before or at the hearing, that they are represented by legal counsel.
Amendment History
Added Stats 1990 ch 1683 § 4 (AB 3916). Amended Stats 1991 ch 915 § 5 (SB 771), ch 1196 § 4 (AB 1755); Stats 1994 ch 971 § 1 (AB 2937); Stats 1998 ch 931 § 39 (SB 2139), effective September 28, 1998.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
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